J.B. Howell, Jr. was born on October 25, 1925 to John B. (1894-1963) and Alleyne Richbourg Howell (1892-1987) in Greer, South Carolina. After graduating from Furman University with a B.A. in 1945, he attended Emory University and earned a B.A. in Library Science and then a Masters.  Howell’s employment history included working at the Greenville County Public Library, and as Assistant Librarian at Clemson Agricultural College. Howell served as Library Director of Leland Speed Library at Mississippi College from 1960-1991. He was a past president of both Mississippi Library Association and Southeastern Library Association. He served as first editor of S.C. Library Association’s South Carolina Librarian. He was the author of Special Collections in Libraries of the Southeast (1978), and several other titles.

Howell passed away March 5, 2003 in Jackson, Mississippi.